After visiting a Gatineau flood evacuation centre on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is slated to spend today making the rounds at the inaugural Nature Champions Summit in Montreal, which, as per the organizers at Environment and Climate Change Canada, aims to “bring together major philanthropists, business leaders, non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies, Indigenous leaders and environment ministers from around the world to build a high-ambition coalition and drive global nature protection forward.”

According to his official itinerary, Trudeau will kick off a full day of summit events with an on-stage “armchair discussion” with environmentalist Steven Guilbeault, who, until last fall, headed up Quebec-based advocacy group Equiterre, with Environment Minister Catherine McKenna and Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson both expected to be “in attendance” during the mid-morning event.

After that wraps up,Trudeau will retreat to the margins of the conference for a series of closed-door chats with Intact Financial Corporation CEO Charles Brindamour, World Wildlife Fund director Marco Lambertini and WWF Canada CEO and former New Democrat MP Megan Leslie and actor Harrison Ford, who serves on the board of Conservation International.

Later this afternoon, Ford will take part in a “fireside chat” on “Empowering Societies to Take Action and Indigenous leadership” alongside Nia Tero CEO Peter Seligmann.

Also on the summit agenda: A suite of “important announcements” on Canada’s oceans protection initiative, courtesy of Wilkinson, and a “wrap-up press conference” hosted by McKenna, during which she’ll “highlight key outcomes of the Summit and make an announcement around nature protection in Canada.”

Back in the capital, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer leads Kanata “volunteers and supporters” on a “door knocking blitz” throughout the suburban community, which will begin at the Walter Baker Park at 6:30 EDT.

One issue that Scheer and his team will undoubtedly make every effort to bring up is the newly imposed federal carbon tax, which, by all indications, the Conservatives are hoping will be a key issue on the campaign trail this fall, which is why party researchers will likely be taking a close look at a new batch of numbers set for release by the Parliamentary Budget Office later this morning.

As per the advisory, the report will provide “fiscal and distributional analysis” of the cross-country pricing regime, including an “independent estimate of the revenues that will be generated,” as well as the PBO’s projection of the “net fiscal impact on households in different income groups in Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.”

Also out and about today:

Finance Minister Bill Morneau drops by Zoomer Media’s Toronto headquarters for a morning town hall with members of the Canadian Association for Retired Persons, during which he’ll answer questions while “highlighting” his government’s plan to “better support seniors as they retire.”

Indigenous Services Minister Seamus O’Regan pays a visit to Tina’s Safe Haven in Winnipeg, where he’ll outline new “investments for Jordan’s Principle” — which aims to “make sure all First Nations children can access the products, services and supports they need, when they need them” — included in the latest federal budget before making his way to Scanterbury to deliver opening remarks at a meeting of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

Finally, the Senate environment, energy and natural resources committee descends on Saint John for another full day of hearings on the government’s proposed overhaul of the environmental assessment process, which will include testimony from Indigenous communities, conservation groups and regional energy producers, including Irving and New Brunswick Power.